Digital agriculture in LMICs - 19 Sep #97
WaterEquity pumps capital into SunCulture for solar irrigation in Africa; India’s AI monsoon forecast reaches 38 million farmers
Featured stories
09/09/25
WaterEquity backs SunCulture with equity investment
Impact investment asset manager WaterEquity has made its first investment under its newly launched private equity and infrastructure strategy by committing USD 5 million to Savant Group, parent company of Kenya-based agritech SunCulture. This move is part of the Water & Climate Resilience Fund, which aims to scale growth-stage companies and infrastructure projects across the water value chain. The investment will help SunCulture expand operations and increase water access in rural communities. The Fund’s investor base includes global companies such as Microsoft, Starbucks, Xylem, Ecolab, Reckitt, and Gap Inc.
Founded in 2013, SunCulture provides end-to-end support to farmers using its irrigation kits, including financing, installation, maintenance and advisory services. Over 90% of customers use the pumps not just for irrigation but also for accessing groundwater for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. Across rural Africa, only an estimated 21% of the population has access to piped water.
Photo credit: SunCulture
In February last year, SunCulture raised USD 4 million from British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution. The investment built on BII’s previous support in 2023, which enabled SunCulture to distribute 9,000 solar irrigation systems to farmers across Kenya.
Since its founding in 2016, WaterEquity has raised more than USD 470 million in committed capital and has helped improve access to safe water or sanitation for over 7 million people in emerging and frontier markets.
Why it matters?
The investment further cements SunCulture’s position as a credible, growth-ready agritech business. Following its oversubscribed USD 27.5 million Series B round in 2024 to scale solar, IoT-enabled irrigation systems across sub-Saharan Africa, the company continues to attract mission-aligned capital, underscoring investor confidence in its model and long-term impact.
12/09/25
AI chatbot Ulangizi helps Malawi’s farmers adapt to climate shocks
A recent AP News article reports that thousands of smallholder farmers in Malawi are using Ulangizi, an AI chatbot developed by Opportunity International, a global non-profit that focuses on microfinance, education and agricultural services for low-income communities. Supported by the Malawi government, the tool helps farmers recover from climate shocks such as Cyclone Freddy in 2023 and El Niño-related droughts.
Accessible through WhatsApp in Chichewa and English, Ulangizi provides audio or text guidance on crops, soil and weather, and can analyse photos to identify plant diseases. To address barriers like low literacy, limited smartphones and patchy connectivity, trained farmer support agents carry the app into villages and help groups use it.
More than 80% of Malawi’s population depends on agriculture, leaving many smallholders exposed to extreme weather and weak infrastructure. In February this year, as reported by Aristechia, Opportunity International partnered with Safaricom to pilot FarmerAI, a generative-AI chatbot for potato farmers offered through the telco’s DigiFarm platform.
15/09/25
AI weather forecast reaches 38 million Indian farmers before monsoon
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal highlights the results of an AI-powered forecasting service deployed by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) ahead of the country’s 2025 southwest monsoon season (June –September). Developed in collaboration with Google Research, the University of Chicago, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the service was delivered via SMS alerts, mobile applications, and agricultural extension networks to ensure access even in areas with limited connectivity.
The initiative reached an estimated 38 million farmers, providing early information on the expected onset of rains so they could adjust sowing dates, choose appropriate crops, and prepare for potential delays.
Forecasts were generated using NeuralGCM, an AI model created by Google Research, combined with ECMWF data and IMD rainfall records. By integrating machine learning with physics-based weather models, the system produced region-specific predictions up to four weeks in advance.
This effort represents one of the largest applications of AI forecasting for smallholder agriculture in a monsoon-dependent region, offering more precise and timely guidance than traditional advisories.
Other news
10/09/25
Agrovesto joins MTN Nigeria’s cloud accelerator programme
Agrovesto, a Nigerian agritech that connects smallholder farmers with finance, inputs and produce buyers, has been selected for MTN Nigeria’s new cloud accelerator programme. The twelve-week initiative, running from September to December 2025, provides a NGN 100 million (about USD 120,000) grant pool together with access to MTN’s cloud infrastructure, APIs and mentoring.
Agrovesto, founded in 2018, currently works with more than 20,000 farmers, helping them increase productivity and market access. Participation in the programme is intended to support the company in scaling its services and extending its operations in Nigeria and other African markets.
MTN’s Cloud Accelerator brings together twenty early-stage ventures from agritech, fintech, edtech, healthtech and cleantech, highlighting the role of technology in improving agricultural value chains across the continent.
11/09/25
Cultive8 deploys farmer management platform with Sri Lankan agribusinesses
Sri Lankan agritech Cultive8, formerly Agrithmics, has deployed Omnix, its cloud-based crop forecasting and farmer-management platform, for Hayleys Agriculture Holdings and HJS Condiments, two agribusiness subsidiaries of Sri Lanka’s Hayleys Group.
The system links more than 12,000 farmers across 16 districts, offering digital tools for crop planning, procurement, input delivery and performance tracking. By consolidating these functions, Hayleys is able to coordinate its supply chain more efficiently while giving contract growers clearer information and faster support.
Cultive8 is a prominent agritech in Sri Lanka. The startup rebranded from Agrithmics in 2023, raising USD 1.75 million in Pre-Series A funding and extending operations to Singapore and Bangladesh.